


Better

by The_Clock_Strikes_Twilight



Series: 'Tis the Season [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arguing, Christmas, Fluff and Angst, Holiday Season, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, M/M, Making Up, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-18 11:23:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21760117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Clock_Strikes_Twilight/pseuds/The_Clock_Strikes_Twilight
Summary: “Isa.” He swallows hard. “I thought you were working all day.”Isa’s gaze is on the frozen ground. “Got off early.”“Ah. Cool.”“Yeah.”The atmosphere is…uneasy. It’s never like this between them. Lea hates it. He and Isa have had their fair share of arguments—every couple does—but this is officially the most they’ve spoken to each other since the initial fight two days prior. Two days. Tch. He hates that, too.“Well, I’ll see ya at home,” Lea says.“Right. See you at home.” And Isa heads into the Nocturne.
Relationships: Isa & Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: 'Tis the Season [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1563262
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	Better

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on twitter @FireStar08 for more consistent updates!! <3

Lea’s hands are stuffed in his pockets as he makes his way down the street, a cold wind blowing right into his face. He wishes he had a scarf to cover his face because he swears his nose is about ready to fall off. Man, he hates wintertime. He’d spend all his time sitting in front of a fireplace if he could.

He hears footsteps behind him that sound like they’re running. Then there’s suddenly an arm snaking its way between his arms and torso. He looks beside him to see who the hell is cozying up to him on the side of the street.

“Please tell me you’re heading to the Nocturne,” Naminé says.

Lea chuckles. “You poor thing. You look worse off than I feel.”

“Larxene refused to pick me up from work because she was too busy hanging out with her boyfriend.”

“Well, I think that deserves the Sister of the Year Award.”

“Good one.” She shivers violently before pushing herself closer into Lea’s embrace. “Can I disown myself from my sister? Is that a thing? Maybe you and Kairi can adopt me. That would be the best holiday present ever.”

Lea moves his arm to wrap around Naminé’s shoulders. “C’mon, we’re not too far from the Nocturne.”

They hasten their pace, both wanting to get out of the cold more than anything else. And when they round the street corner and the beloved café appears in the distance, they nearly book it the rest of the way. Lea reaches the entrance first, but only to pull the door open for Naminé. She steps inside and takes a deep breath.

“Smells amazing in here,” she says.

Lea steps in behind her, pulling the door shut. “Shit. Yeah, it does.”

“Ienzo’s baking again,” Demyx calls out. Lea and Naminé look towards the direction of his voice, but neither of them can spot him. He then pops up from behind the counter. “Something about the holidays.” He smiles. “You two want your usual?”

“Please,” Lea says before following Naminé to a corner booth.

“So, had you been heading this way—” Naminé starts once Demyx serves them both their drinks. A cinnamon chai for Lea and a French vanilla hot cocoa for Naminé, “—or did you just accompany me here to be nice?”

“I was heading this way, don’t ya worry.”

She laughs. “I wasn’t sure if you had maybe been on your way home to see Isa. I mean, it’s not very often we see either of you without the other anymore.”

Lea forces his own little laugh. “Yeah, uh… No, he’s busy at work today.”

“That’s too bad.” She sips at her drink. “He’s free tomorrow, at least, right?”

Just then, the front door opens again and Kairi, Riku, and Sora stumble inside. They wave to Demyx who greets them all simultaneously. The three of them spot Lea and Naminé and join them in the booth.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Kairi says, scooting in close to Lea.

“Why? So that you can steal my heat?”

“Exactly. What else are big brothers for?”

Naminé nods here head. “That’s why I’m saying.” She takes another sip of her drink. “I told Lea earlier that I’m gonna disown myself from Larxene so that you two can adopt me.”

“I don’t—I don’t think it works like that,” Riku says.

“Don’t ruin this for me.”

He chuckles. “Sorry.”

Demyx delivers three more drinks to the table for the new arrivals. Sora tilts his head at the gesture. “But…we didn’t even order yet.”

“Dude, you guys are here all the time. You think I don’t know your orders yet?” He scoffs as if he’s hurt. “I’m insulted.” And he returns behind the counter.

Kairi breathes deep as she moves away from Lea. “What is that incredible smell?”

“Apparently Ienzo is baking,” Lea says.

“I hope we get to try whatever it is he’s baking,” Sora says.

Riku’s laughing again. “We just had lunch.”

“What? So, I’m not allowed to be hungry anymore?”

“I—” He shakes his head. “Never mind.”

Lea grins. “I see dating life is going well for you two.”

“He’s impossible. I mean, he was impossible before, but now—”

“Riku’s just mean,” Sora speaks up. He smiles wide at the other. “Guess I have a thing for jerks.”

Lea raises his cup. “Cheers to that, kid.”

“Hey, you can’t say that when Isa’s not here,” Kairi says. “It’s not fair.”

“Why? He clearly has you to defend him.”

She quirks an eyebrow at him. “Okay…”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Naminé speaks up. “Before you guys got here, I was making sure Isa will be available tomorrow.”

“Right. Why’s that?” Lea asks. “What’s tomorrow?”

“The lighting of the town, dummy,” Kairi tells him. “We promised we’d all go together to watch it, remember?”

“Oh, shit, that’s tomorrow?”

“Yeah, it’s tomorrow,” Demyx joins in, pulling a chair up from another table to sit at the end of the booth. “Why the hell do you think Ienzo is slaving away back there?”

“Maybe you should help him,” Naminé says.

Demyx bursts out laughing at this. “Good one. He’s already kicked me out three separate times now.”

Lea grins smugly. “What three things did ya set on fire?”

“Awe, hell no, that’s you. You’re the one who’s always setting shit on fire. Don’t think Isa doesn’t tell me.” Lea quirks an eyebrow and Demyx sighs. “Okay. Fine. He tells Ienzo, but then Ienzo tells me. So, don’t think I still don’t know because I do.”

Now Lea’s chuckling. “Yeah, sure, whatever.”

“Are we gonna meet here tomorrow for the lighting?” Sora then asks.

“That would probably be easiest,” Demyx says. “The lighting is at 9:30, right? So, we can all meet here at eight when we close, and we’ll just hang out and eat and drink before the lighting.”

“Sounds good,” Riku says.

Naminé pulls out her phone. “I’ll let Roxas and Xion know.”

“And you’ll obviously be seeing Isa once he gets off work, right?” Kairi says. She smiles. “So, you’ll tell him when you see him?”

Lea nods his head once. “Of course.”

She looks him up and down. “Are you feeling okay? You seem a bit off.”

“I think I know why.” Naminé waves her phone about. “Roxas told me that he’ll make sure Xion reaches out to Isa because apparently Lea and Isa are fighting.”

Kairi’s eyes widen at this. “ _What_? Why are you two fighting? What happened? What did you do?”

“Huh?” Lea folds his arms across his chest. “Why the hell do ya automatically think it’s my fault?”

“Because you’re my brother and I know how dramatic you are.”

“Tch. Am not.”

Demyx laughs. “Please, you’re a bigger drama queen than even I am.”

“That’s because you are low maintenance, whereas Lea is high maintenance,” Ienzo says as he comes out of the kitchen. “And my apologies, Lea, but it is very true.”

“All right.” Lea gets to his feet. “If everyone’s gonna start shitting on me, then I’m gonna head home.”

Demyx only laughs harder. “C’mon, don’t be like that.”

“No, no, I see how it is.” He shrugs it off before winking at the group. “I’ll catch you guys tomorrow for the lighting.” And he takes his leave. As soon as he’s out the café door, he bumps into— “Isa.” He swallows hard. “I thought you were working all day.”

Isa’s gaze is on the frozen ground. “Got off early.”

“Ah. Cool.”

“Yeah.”

The atmosphere is…uneasy. It’s never like this between them. Lea _hates_ it. He and Isa have had their fair share of arguments—every couple does—but this is officially the most they’ve spoken to each other since the initial fight two days prior. Two days. Tch. He hates that, too.

“Well, I’ll see ya at home,” Lea says.

“Right. See you at home.” And Isa heads into the Nocturne.

Lea lets out a heavy sigh. It’s gonna be another long night. And he’s not looking forward to it. Hmm. Maybe he won’t head home just yet. There’s nothing worse than waiting in an empty apartment for a disputable significant other who refuses to hold up his end of the conversation. Not that Lea’s any better. Another sigh. Damn it.

He heads home anyway. Best not to run from these sorts of things. And once he is home, he starts cleaning the apartment. He cleans the bedroom first, and then makes his way to the bathroom. From there, he cleans the living room. Then when he’s done in the kitchen, he begins to prep for cooking. He’s not sure how much longer Isa will be, but he knows his socialising meter will drain. There’s only so much time Isa can spend around the rest of the group, no matter how big or small, especially when Lea’s not there to support and bounce off his introversion.

He cooks Isa’s favourite meal. Shepherd’s pie. The only pie Isa likes because he doesn’t like pie crust. Lea chuckles to himself. He’ll never forget the first time Isa told him that. There are a lot of things he’ll never forget… Which is why he just wants to move past this dumb argument. And, granted, he’s not the best of cooks, but _of course_ he’s perfected Isa’s favourite.

The front door opens just as Lea is adding the final touches. He quickens his motions just a bit and sets the plates down on the table as Isa rounds the corner into the kitchen.

“What’s this?” Isa asks.

Okay. Not the response Lea had been shooting for. Hoping for. “Uh…dinner? I know it’s still early, but—”

“Is this supposed to make everything better? Or make it all go away?”

Now he doesn’t even know how to react. “That’s not—” He shakes his head, knowing he has to be careful with his words when Isa’s on the defencive. “I thought we could at least talk over some good food.”

“There’s nothing to talk to talk about.” And he heads for the bedroom.

“There’s a lot to talk about, actually.” He follows him but doesn’t get too far before he’s bumping into Isa, who’s standing in the doorway. “What?”

“Did you… _clean_ , too?”

He sighs. “For fuck’s sake… Yeah. Sue me.”

Isa rolls his eyes. “At least you know you’ve done something wrong.” And he heads for the bathroom.

Lea continues to follow him. “Except I didn’t _do_ anything at all. That’s what I was hoping to talk about. I just wanna understand why the hell you’re so mad.”

“I shouldn’t have to explain myself.”

“Humour me.”

He stops unbuttoning his shirt halfway down with an exasperated drop of his arms. “You were texting someone behind my back.”

Now his eyes widen. “W-what? Is that—? Holy shit… That’s what this is about? Isa, I was texting a _coworker_. And it wasn’t behind your back. I mean, there wasn’t even anything to hide. The texts were innocent, so I don’t get what you’re so worked up about.”

“Innocent? Tch. They were so clearly flirting with you.”

“Yeah. And?” He shrugs his shoulders, blown away. “Was I _so clearly_ flirting back?” Isa opens his mouth to retort, but Lea raises a finger to silence him. “No. Don’t answer that because I already know I sure as shit wasn’t. I mean, c’mon, don’t you trust me?” At this, Isa’s gaze drops to floor everything suddenly clicks into place in Lea’s mind. “Wow…” He nods, pursing his lips. “You don’t trust me.” It’s not a question.

“I didn’t say that,” Isa speaks up.

“You didn’t say anything and—and that says plenty.” He storms out of the bathroom and grabs an overnight bag. “Can’t believe this.”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Isa asks.

“Gonna go to Roxas’ place,” he says. “I can’t be here right now.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Lea.”

He scoffs, stuffing the first few articles of clothing he comes across into the bag. “That’s _rich_ coming from you.”

“Wait, just—” Isa starts as he follows Lea towards the front door. “Hold on. Can we just talk—?”

He stops dead in his tracks and faces Isa. “Yeah? Now ya wanna talk?” He swallows hard, fighting the crack in his voice. Fighting the tears. “I gave you the chance to talk and you didn’t want to. So now I don’t wanna hear it.” He adjusts the bag on his shoulder and takes a deep breath. “If you don’t trust me, let me know. Because I can’t keep doing this otherwise.”

It really is a long night. As soon as Lea gets to Roxas’ place, the kid won’t stop pestering him with questions about his fight with Isa. Lea doesn’t wanna talk about it, though. And he tells Roxas that over and over again. Eventually, he wears the kid out, carrying him to his bed before making himself comfortable on the couch. Except he doesn’t expect to get any sleep. This is the worst argument he’s had with Isa and now that he’s not home with him, he feels awful for storming out. He shouldn’t have left. Not on those terms. It wasn’t fair to either of them.

The morning comes far too soon. Lea is nowhere near rested enough for the day ahead of him. So far, the one good thing is waking up to the smell of coffee. The scent drags him off the couch, and he follows it into the kitchen to find Roxas and Xion.

Xion greets him with a big smile. “Good morning, Sleepyhead.”

“Morning, Sunflower.”

She blushes, scrunching her nose at the nickname. “Isa must love whatever pet-names you come up with for him.”

He takes a sip of the coffee he just poured for himself and relishes in its warmth. “Let’s not talk about Isa right now.”

“You shouldn’t have left last night,” Roxas speaks up.

“Yeah, I know. Trust me. I feel like a total ass.”

“You should.”

He glares at him. “Why the hell am I even friends with you?”

He grins. “Yeah, I ask myself the same thing about you, so…seems fair.”

Xion glances back and forth between the guys. “Okay, that’s beside the point, but Roxas is right.” She focuses on Lea. “Why did you take off like that?”

Lea lets out a heavy sigh, falling into the last empty chair at the table. “I dunno. I was just so upset… He practically said that he doesn’t trust me. That he thinks I would cheat on him.”

She tilts her head. “Something tells me there’s more to it than just that.”

“Doesn’t matter. Pretty sure I fucked up any chance of reconciliation by leaving.”

“I don’t think so,” Roxas says. “Isa’s in love with you. I mean, I get you two have always been friends, but, like…since you two started dating it’s like he’s a completely different person. In a good way, though. You bring out the best in him. And he’s always been more stoic and reserved, but I think you just make him feel everything at full force. But strong emotions cause strong reactions.” He shrugs his shoulders. “You two just need to be more level-headed when sorting out disputes.”

Shit. He makes a really damn good point. Almost _too_ good. “I’m sorry.” Lea leans a little closer to him. “Ven? Is this actually you?”

Roxas sneers. “Oh, shut up.” Lea and Xion both burst into laughter and Roxas jumps to his feet. “You two suck. I can deep, too.” They both continue their fit of laughter as Roxas storms off to his bedroom. “ _I hate you_ ,” he calls back to them.

The rest of the morning and the afternoon pass by relatively quickly. Lea spent most of it checking his phone and typing out messages to Isa he never bothered sending. He would much rather speak with him in person, at this point. It’ll be better that way.

Hopefully.

When Lea, Roxas, and Xion arrive at the Nocturn a little past eight, they’re the last of the group to make it. Ienzo greets them with the cookies he had spent all day the previous day baking. Lea spots Isa sitting at their regular table, his back towards the entrance. He takes a deep breath before walking over to him.

Kairi spots him first and smiles. “Hey, big bro.”

He returns the smile. “Yo.” He then places a gentle hand on Isa’s shoulder, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. Isa is visibly shocked by this simple gesture. “Hey,” he says, softening his voice.

Isa refuses to look at him. “Hey.”

_Is this supposed to make everything better_? The words echo in Lea’s mind. He squeezes Isa’s shoulder—in what would be a comforting way if they weren’t currently arguing—before pulling his hand back. No. This isn’t gonna make anything better.

The next forty-five minutes is spent mostly goofing off. Demyx and Sora playing a weird type of charades against each other. Lea’s almost positive they’re making up the rules as they go along.

It’s just about nine o’clock when they decide to get ready to head out. Lea makes his way for the bathroom first. He recalls a drunken hook-up he and Isa had had in this bathroom towards the beginning of their relationship and chuckles. Ienzo had been so pissed, but Demyx found it hilarious. Isa, of course, was absolutely mortified by the situation. Lea probably would’ve been, too, if it hadn’t been for Isa’s humiliation. His drunken ass had been too enamoured with how _cute_ Isa is embarrassed. Drunk and embarrassed, better yet. Hair still a hot mess from their hot hook-up. Lea chuckles to himself. Yeah. He needs to talk to Isa. He needs to fix this. He’s not ready to lose the love of his life.

As soon as he steps out of the bathroom, he’s greeted with Isa being shoved into him by Kairi. She then bolts towards the front door to leave with the others.

“Oh, hey, look, _mistletoe_ ,” Xion says.

Lea and Isa glance above their heads. There is indeed mistletoe hanging above them. So, they had planned this. Tch. No surprise there.

“You two are not allowed to move from that spot until you kiss and makeup,” Naminé proceeds to tells them.

Riku smiles. “Better make it quick if you wanna catch the lighting.”

With that, everyone leaves. The door swings shut behind Ienzo and Lea and Isa hear the lock _click_ from the other side.

“You do know we don’t actually have to stay here,” Isa speaks up. “Nothing is physically keeping us here.”

“Sure, but we should talk,” Lea says.

“I didn’t think you were interested in talking anymore.”

He drops his head. “Look… I’m sorry for leaving last night. That was uncalled for. But…” He folds his arms across his chest. “It hurts to know you don’t trust me.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just—” He pauses, sighing. “I never told you this, but I have been cheated on before.”

He takes a deep breath. “I know.”

“Y-you know?”

“Yeah. Your boyfriend before me, right?” Isa simply nods in response, still somewhat in shock. Lea nods his head once in return. “He used to flirt me all the time. Or he tried to, at least. I obviously never went for it. And I probably should’ve told you, but you seemed super into him so I figured I would just give him a chance anyway. Then when you two broke up out of the blue, I kinda just had a feeling it was due to a reason like that.”

“Lea—” Another pause. “Hold on. When I met up with him to get my stuff back and he had a black eye…” Lea can’t resist the smirk and Isa’s eyes widen. “You _did_ do that.”

“No offence, but not because of you. Although, that did add to it.”

“Then why?”

“Because that son of a bitch tried coming on to Roxas and Roxas was still only seventeen at the time and I sure as hell was not gonna tolerate that. There’s no reason for a grown ass man to be flirting with a seventeen-year-old. So, trust me, ya dodged a serious bullet with that one.”

He chuckles sheepishly, shaking his head. “You’re ridiculous.” He thinks for a moment. “If you knew this, though, then you should understand that this is a sensitive subject for me.”

“I do understand. But this is me we’re talking about. And you should know that I would never do that you. I wouldn’t do that to _anyone_ , but I especially wouldn’t do it to you. I would never even imagine hurting you like that. Not in a million years. That’s what you should understand.”

Isa brings his hands to his shoulders, crossing his arms in the process, almost as if to cover himself. To shield himself. “I suppose…I’m just afraid of losing you.”

“Losing me?” Lea wants to laugh at how ridiculous that is but chokes it down. It would only be inappropriate right now. “Isa, I’ve been in love with you since we were kids.” He grins. “I’m afraid you’re very much stuck with me, babe.” Isa rolls his eyes at the pet-name, but that doesn’t hide the colour that rises in his cheeks. “Does this mean we can kiss and makeup now?”

“Only because we’re standing under mistletoe.”

“I’ll take it.”

Without wasting another moment, Lea coils an arm around Isa’s waist and pulls him in to kiss him hard. Isa makes a surprised noise into the kiss but is soon pulling Lea in even closer. Lea smiles into the kiss. If fighting with Isa means making up like this, he’ll suffer through any and every argument. Because this is perfect. Tch. Who is he kidding? It’s not the moment that’s perfect.

Isa is perfect.

Someone suddenly clears their throat to make their presence known. “Could we maybe wrap this up before we have another bathroom fiasco?”

Lea breaks the kiss with a mild fit of laughter, whereas Isa’s face has turned as red as his hair. “I’m surprised you were trusting enough to even leave us alone,” Lea says.

Ienzo quirks an eyebrow. “I didn’t go far. Now, let’s go. We only have ten minutes.”

They leave the café and rush to the town’s centre. They find the others and are sure to let them know that everything’s good now. Perfect. They then put their undivided attention on the lighting ceremony.

The streetlights go on first, white lights wrapped up the poles. From there, the bared trees in the immediate area light up. The gazebo then illuminates with blue lights. And last but certainly not least, the giant pine tree dazzles in reds and greens and golds and blues. The lights also cause the ornaments to sparkle.

Lea overhears the girls make exclamations of its beauty. He smiles to himself and looks beside him at Isa. He’s still admiring the tree, but the way the lights are reflecting in his eyes is far more enchanting than any holiday scene. Lea’s smile widens as he takes Isa’s hand in his own, entwining their fingers. This is when Isa returns both his gaze and the smile. A smile that shines brighter than any light. Lea gently squeezes Isa’s hand and Isa rests his head on Lea’s shoulder in response. Lea kisses his head before looking back at all the lights.

Yeah. This is what Lea wants for the rest of his life. Him and Isa. Just like this. Because when they’re together, even the catastrophes are captivating. So then when it comes to the miracles… Well, those’ll be magnificent.

**Author's Note:**

> Quote Prompt: "Oh, hey, mistletoe."


End file.
